In March we were blessed to
have 2 groups come down from the US, who gave up their spring break to come and
serve in Honduras. Both of these missions were absolutely awesome, and I feel
like Jesus was trying to tell me the same thing during both of them.
In our first mission, I
went to a town called Casa de Piedra. Our team was awesome and we were in a
beautiful place, simple and without electricity. But one thing stuck out to me
more than the rest. We were visiting houses one morning, and we entered one
house just like any other. The mother told us that her son was sick, so we went
in to see him. Sick was the biggest understatement. This 8 year old boy was
completely emaciated – he was probably the size of a 3 year old, and you could
see every bone in his body. It was literally something you would expect to see
in a video of Mother Teresa, serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. It
was really enough to scare or disgust someone. But instead of feeling scared or
disgusted, I saw JESUS. I saw Jesus lying there on that bed. It was so clear
that it was Him. I felt such a huge surge of love for this boy, Josue. We sat
on the bed and talked with him, and he began to move around. He could sense our
presence and our love. How many people are there in our lives that are the
same? That just need our presence and our love to wake them up? How times each day
do we overlook Jesus living in one who is poor, depressed, addicted, afraid?
During our second mission,
I went to a little village called Guajirquirito. Another beautiful place and
beautiful team. One day we walked 4 hours round trip to visit another village
that was really remote. Here we were visiting houses, when we came upon a woman
named Maria and her 30 year old son Jorge out in a field. We came to learn
quickly that this field was their home – they didn’t have a house. Apparently
the community had come together various times to try to build them a little
house, but each time Jorge, who has mental problems, would burn it down. So
they lived out in the fields, alone and rejected. Immediately when we
approached their little spot, Maria came over with a big wrinkling smile and
offered us coffee on a tiny pot she had over a fire. This woman who has NOTHING
in this life, without knowing us and without thinking twice, offered us the
only thing she had!! Imagine going up to a homeless man in the street, and instead
of begging from you, he offered you something!
After talking with her and Jorge and praying with them, we
left to visit other houses, and then went to the tiny church to lead a program.
Maria came. At the end, she came up and put 2 lempiras (10 cents) on the altar,
and left….Nobody asked her for money. She did it out of the love she has in her
heart for Jesus. I was in shock. This was the Gospel lived out literally. Jesus
speaks of the widow who came and put her two little coins in to the collection
box, and how in the end she gave more than all the rest. Maria did the same.
And for her generosity, God blessed this poor woman with a great joy. Her smile
was radiant! One might think, “How is it possible for a poor homeless woman to
be happy?” What a testament for
all of us – if we really believe
Jesus and follow His words and live them out, He will give us peace and joy.
So, through these
encounters, Jesus was telling me: I am in the poor! I am the sick and the lame
and the homeless. Visit me; serve me; love me! It’s so hard for us to truly
believe this – that the poor person truly is Jesus. But Jesus said it Himself; I’m not making up
anything new here. These are His words (see Matthew 25). We look for happiness
in so many places; who would think to look for it in the despised, in the
forgotten, in the suffering?
Jesus spoke to the
Samaritan woman at the well. He presented Himself as the needy one, thirsty and
in need of water. Jesus continues to present Himself as the needy one to us
today, as Blessed Mother Teresa always said, in the “distressing disguise of
the poor.” Why would Jesus choose to reveal Himself to us in this way? Not to
show us His need, but to show us
our need. He comes to us in the
poor, the broken, the sick, the helpless, to show us our own need to become
small, humble, to serve, to give of ourselves, to love others selflessly – not
just those who we like, or those who are beautiful, but the most despised. This
is our need as humans, and until
we live it, we can’t be whole; until we live it, we are the needy ones.
“Christ will not live in
you if you cannot find Him in other men.” – Thomas Merton
“We return our love to God
through our brothers and sisters.” – Thomas Merton
“The only appropriate
response to another human person is love.” – Blessed John Paul II
“If you look too much for
your own peace, you will never find it, because peace is the fruit of love and
service to others. Ask how you can better love your brothers and sisters. Then
you will find peace.”
Thanks be to God, we’re
going to be bringing Josue (the 8 year old sick boy) to live with the
Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters) for a while to get healthier,
so that he will be able to receive surgery during one of the medical brigades
that we help with every few months. It’s amazing how much God can use small
acts of love and do great things!
Now, homework time: go find
someone, try to find Jesus in them, and love them!
Peace!
Eric
